The sacred Way was the most famous
street in ancient Rome, along which victorious generals
rode in triumphal procession proceeeding to the Capitoline
Hill to give thanks to Jupiter, the Great and Good.
Immediately on its right are the ruins of the Basilica
Emilia (named after the Aemilia family), it was used
for the administration of justice. Walking forwards
the Sacred Way,stands the great Curia Iulia, seat of
the Senate.
In front of it is the Lapis Niger,
an area paved with black marble slabs which the Romans
believed was the tomb of Romolus. Beyond the Curia rises
the Arch of Septimus Severus. The northern short side
of the Forum was closed by the Rostra, the orators’
platform to which the Romans had fixed the prows (rostra)
of the enemy ships defeated at Antium (338 b.C.).
Between the Rostra and the Tabularium
(the state archive) rose the temples of Concord, of
Vespasian and of Saturn linking the Forun to the Capitoline
Hill. On the south-east corner of the Forum stands the
Basilica Julia, used for the administration of Justice.
On this side of the Forum rise many bases of statues
and an honorary column dedicated to the Emperor Foca
in 608 b.C. To the east of the Basilica Julia stand
three columns belonging to the temple of the Dioscuri
while in the centre of the Forum is the Temple of Caesar
(29 b.C.) dedicated to the ‘god’ Julius
Caesar.
Immediately to the east of the temple
of Caesar is the Regia which was held to have been the
residence of the second king of Rome, Numa. Right in
front it stands one of the most ancient and important
sanctuaries of Rome, the temple of Vesta, and next to
it the House of the Vestal Virgins. Opposite side there
were the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina and the Temple
of Romolus.
The outstanding building which rises
next to it was the Basilica of Maxentius, started by
that Emperor in the early IV century. At the north-west
end of the Forum stands the Temple of Venus and Rome,
erected by the Emperor Hadrian (135 A.D.). The southern
short side of the Forum is closed by the Arch of Titus
(around 81 A.D.) |
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